Choco- macadamia nut cookies

Today I made the best cookies ever!!! Chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies... A friend bought all of the supplies so that I would bake them. It was a simple and delicious recipe to bake.

Find the recipe at: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/macadamia-nut-chocolate-chip-cookies/Detail.aspx 

Chocolate chip cookies

Over the past 2 weeks, my classmates have been asking for cookies. I decided to take that request as a chance to practice. I decided to make chocolate chip cookies which is a cookie that everyone would enjoy. They turned out deliciously. They were perfectly golden and sweet. I made about 2 dozen and they were gone within seconds of opening the container. Now I know to make no less than 50 cookies.

Recipe Tip: I used imported Irish cream butter (sold at Trader Joes), extra chocolate chips(preferrably Nestle brand), and a tad extra sugar in the dough making them extra good.

More cookies coming soon! 

Winter Baking

Today,
I am bringing gluten free chocolate cake to school for my what San Diego Eats exhibition in environmental science. The project was to show the differences in what families eat. For my family, I wanted to emphasize our most significant difference-- gluten free foods, so I made this gluten free dessert. Baking seemed so much easier than it usually is. My baking skills seem to be improving, as proven by my cakes. It turned moist and fluffy. Unfortunately, the homemade frosting (which is usually a snap to make,) didn't turn out, so I used store-bought frosting.

I also made Snickerdoodles for the first time to celebrate Christmas with friends before winter break. I forgot to dip the dough in cinnamon and sugar the first time and they were overbaked. But the second batch turned out perfect.

Here are the recipes used:
http://www.joyofbaking.com/Snickerdoodles.html
(converted to 1/2 serving)

Thanksgiving Cooking Lessons With Chef Julie

 

Today, I went to Chef Julie's Cooking Class and helped make a Thanksgiving Feast. The feast included:

• Harvest salad
• Stuffing w/ dried apricots, pistachios, & herbs
• Apple cider brined turkey rubbed w/ herb butter
• Pomegranate- cranberry glaze
• Shaved brussel sprouts w/ shitake mushrooms & sage
• Chocolate bourbon pecan pie

Birthday Cupcakes

I try to take every opportunity to practice baking by making cupcakes for special occasions such as dinner parties, birthdays etc. Recently, I got an order for homemade birthday cupcakes for my friend D'Vaughn. She wanted yellow cupcakes will chocolate cream cheese frosting. So I found some recipes on foodnetwork.com and followed the instructions exactly. The cupcakes turned out a bit dense but I added some sugar syrup and let them moisten overnight. Overall I am satisfied with the way they turned out and everyone enjoyed them. :)

Rob's Surprise Birthday Cake!



For Rob's Birthday on August 27th, I went back to Sweet Cheeks Baking Company (my previous internship) to make a surprise cake. My mentors prepared the cake and I decorated it with a hand- painted fondant cityscape. The cake was a red velvet cake with buttercream, white chocolate filling, and cream cheese filling. When we finished the final touches on the cake, my mom and I took it to The Glass Door in Downtown San Diego. It was great to go back and visit all of my mentors this summer. The atmosphere in the bakery was much different than my internship the year before. Being that it was summer, there were many orders to fill and not much spare time. I enjoyed my visit and I would like to thank Sweet Cheeks for giving me the opportunity to come back and my mom for sponsoring it.



Tuesday 1/26/09

Here is the project that I have been working on this week:

baked & filled the chiffon cake with italian buttercream, strawberry-banana mousse, and fresh strawberries. Yum.. :)


The cake had to be sealed in with italian buttercream so that the mousse and the moisture stays inside. Also, the buttercream has to be chilled and scraped to even-ness so that the fondant lays evenly over it.


The sheeter is used to roll out fondant quickly and easily.




It is important that the fondant is shaped quickly otherwise it will start to dry up and crack.


Piping swirls with white chocolate- buttercream.